Week 2021.05.31

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Reminder: In observance of Memorial Day (Monday, 05/31/21), we will be open for training during our usual morning hours (5:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.) that day, but we will be closed that afternoon and evening.

This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled
Outdoors:
10 rounds of:
Push sled 100 ft
Pull sled 100 ft (hand over hand)

Indoors:
20 rounds of:
Push sled 50 ft
Pull sled 50 ft (hand over hand)

Compare to 2021.03.29.

Option 2
Bike/row:
5 min on
4 min off
4 min on
3 min off
3 min on
2 min off
2 min on
1 min off
1 min on

Record distance for each interval and add for total distance.

Compare to 2021.03.08.

Option 3
Outdoors:
8 rounds:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
8 rounds:
4 tire flips
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2021.02.08.

Option 4
5 rounds:
4 tire flips
8 sledgehammer strikes
6 pull-ups
10 push-ups

Pull-ups and push-ups can be modified – talk to the coaches for options.

Compare to 2021.02.01.

The Deadlift: Sock it to Me, Baby

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Want an easy way to improve your deadlift?

Wear long socks. Seriously. When you deadlift, wear socks that go over your calves and up to a point just below your knees. Of course, sweatpants or leggings will work as well, but for pure fashion - and I’m an expert on this topic - I recommend the classic, old-school tube sock with the horizontal stripes.

Why long socks? Two reasons:

First, you’ll keep the bar closer. Remember, step 5 in the deadlift setup is “drag” - i.e., drag the bar up your legs. This keeps the bar close to your body, over the middle of your foot, and it makes for the most efficient pull. Have you ever tried holding a jug of milk out at arm’s length? It’s a lot easier when you keep it close to your body, and the deadlift is no different. Lifters will automatically keep the bar closer to their legs when they’re not worried about scraping their shins, which brings us to . . .

Second, you’ll prevent yourself from having bloody shins when you actually succeed in keeping the bar close. You don’t want bloody shins - once they bleed, it’s amazingly easy to break those scabs back open again in successive workouts - and we don’t want your DNA on the bar.

Now, if you’ve never let a deadlift drift away from your shins, and if you’ve never had bloody shins when pulling, then feel free to ignore this advice, but your day will come too, my friend, and when it does, you’ll wish you had a pair of those sweet socks.

Week 2021.05.24

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Reminder: In observance of Memorial Day (Monday, 05/31/21), we will be open for training during our usual morning hours (5:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.) that day, but we will be closed that afternoon and evening.

This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2021.03.22.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = lowest distance.

Compare to 2021.03.01.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
50 ft yoke carry
50 ft yoke push
100 ft sandbag carry and S.O.B. (sandbag-over-bar)

Perform 1 round every 2-3 minutes.

Compare to 2021.02.01.

Option 4
Row/Tire 10 min ladder:
2 cal row
2 tire flips
4 cal row
4 tire flips
6 cal row
6 tire flips
…
Climb the ladder as high as possible in 10 minutes.

Compare to 2021.01.25.

The Snatch: Landing Positions

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There are three landing positions for the snatch, and each has its own advantages. Let’s briefly cover them here:

Joy performs a power snatch.

Joy performs a power snatch.

Power Snatch

  • Landing Position: Partial squat (i.e., partial-depth overhead squat)

  • Advantage: The power snatch is the simplest to learn as your feet do not travel far from their original pulling position. It also doesn’t require learning how to perform the overhead squat as in the . . .

Joy performs a snatch.

Joy performs a snatch.

Snatch (AKA full snatch or squat snatch)

  • Landing Position: Overhead squat (i.e., full-depth overhead squat)

  • Advantage: Of the three landing positions, the full snatch allows lifters to lift the heaviest weights as this lower receiving position means the bar doesn’t have to be lifted as high before catching it.

Joy performs a split snatch.

Joy performs a split snatch.

Split Snatch

  • Landing Position: Split stance - nearly identical to the split jerk stance, but the split is usually even longer and deeper.

  • Advantage: The split snatch allows the lifter to drop further under the bar than the power snatch without requiring the ability to drop into an overhead squat position as in the full snatch. For this reason, the split snatch - although potentially useful at all ages - is especially well-suited to older lifters.

You’ll notice that the word “hang” - as in hang snatch or hang power snatch or hang split snatch - is conspicuously absent in this discussion. This is because “hang” refers to a starting position, not a landing position. If “hang” is added as a prefix, then the lift simply starts with the bar hanging in the hands (usually at about mid-thigh height) as opposed to starting with the bar resting on the floor.

Week 2021.05.17

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
”Prowler Base+1”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest 30 sec.
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2021.03.15.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 800m

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = slowest time.

Compare to 2021.02.22.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)

Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2021.01.25.

Option 4
5-8 rounds:
50 ft sled push
50 ft sled pull (hand over hand)
Row 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

This can also be done in a group of three where the sledder determines how long the other two people row and rest.

Compare to 2021.01.18.

Barbell Sports

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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/20/18.)

“What’s the deal with all of these lifting sports? I can’t keep them straight!”

No worries - let’s take a quick look at the three major sports of the barbell world.

  • Powerlifting: This is the sport of the back squat, bench press, and the deadlift. Each lifter gets 3 attempts on the squat, 3 attempts on the bench press, and 3 attempts on the deadlift. Take your best attempt from each lift, add them together, and you have what is known as your total.

  • Strengthlifting: This is the sport of the back squat, the press, and the deadlift. It is similar to powerlifting, but there are several notable differences:

    • The press (i.e., overhead press) is contested, not the bench press.

    • The deadlift is conventional, which means your hands go outside of your legs. This is how we teach the deadlift anyway, so it’s not unusual to you, but at powerlifting meets, a beast known as the sumo deadlift often makes an appearance (wherein the stance is very wide and the grip is fairly narrow - inside the stance).

    • The judges simply tell you whether or not the lift counted, whereas in powerlifting, the judges are a bit more involved.

  • Weightlifting: This is the sport of the snatch and the clean-and-jerk. Like the other two sports, each lifter gets 3 attempts on each of the lifts, and once again, we add the best successful lifts together to get a total.

    • Weightlifting is also known as “olympic weightlifting” or simply “olympic lifting.”

    • If you’ve ever watched lifting during the Summer Olympics, this is the sport you witnessed.